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The remains of Leticia Hernandez, the Oceanside girl whose 1989 Christmas-season kidnapping struck a sympathetic chord nationwide, were discovered Saturday near the Pala Indian Reservation, authorities said today.

A property caretaker found the remains off county Highway S16, two miles south of the Riverside County line, Oceanside police and FBI officials said. Dental records were used to confirm that the dead girl was Leticia, who was 7 when she was abducted.

Tests performed by the San Diego County medical examiner's office indicate she died from three to 12 months ago, police said.

Local and federal investigators converged this morning at the remote location where the remains were found, described by one officer as "a two-lane highway out in the middle of nowhere."

FBI spokesman Ron Orrantia, interviewed at the site, only 26 miles from Leticia's home, said he expects that more that 50 law-enforcement personnel would be at the scene today. He described the remains as a partial skeleton.

"We haven't found all the parts of the body," Orrantia said.

The investigation site will eventually encompass several acres, Orrantia said, and the FBI has asked Camp Pendleton Marines to assist in searching the area. By early afternoon, however, only about 200 yards along Highway S16 had been marked off with yellow police crime-scene tape.

Despite that finding, Oceanside investigators have not discounted any of the reported sightings of the missing girl, said Sgt. Bill Krunglevich.

Asked if the kidnap probe is now a murder investigation, Krunglevich replied: "One can draw that conclusion."

The last of about 20 reported sightings of the girl since her abduction occurred on March 26, 1990, when Leticia reportedly was seen in the company of her kidnappers at a gas station in Greensboro, Fla.

Leticia's relatives were notified last night of the grisly discovery, police said.

As tears streamed down her face, Leticia's mother declined this morning to talk about her daughter's death.

"We really appreciated the help when she was lost. On our part, we want total silence now," said the girl's mother, also named Leticia.

Then, dressed in a pink sweatshirt and black shorts, Mrs. Hernandez walked two of her youngsters, Daniel, 5, and Jorge, 3, three blocks to school. As she left, a van full of family members pulled up to the neat Bush Street apartment adjacent to the Interstate 5 freeway where the Hernandez family lives and from which Leticia was kidnapped.

"We never lost hope. Every night, every day we prayed," said Leticia's uncle, Jesus de Hernandez. "We asked God to bring her back, but he has a purpose. We know that Leticia is with God and protected by him."

He and the family's spiritual counselor, John Wichmann of the Carlsbad Stake Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held a brief press conference outside the family apartment.

Jesus de Hernandez had a word for the kidnappers: "I will not judge them; God is going to judge them."

In asking that the family's privacy be respected, Jesus de Hernandez said he's concerned about the stress on his mother -- Leticia's grandmother -- who had spinal surgery 15 days ago.

He said police notified the family last night, but Leticia's father, a farmworker who is somewhere in the Sacramento area, had not yet been told.

After speaking with Leticia's mother, Wichmann said, "She feels a mixture of thankfulness and. ... But then she knows where her daughter is. She is in heaven with her heavenly father and he protects her. Her faith is something consoling."

Wichmann asked that people interested in helping the family contribute to a memorial fund to educate Leticia's brothers and sisters. Donations may be made in care of the Oceanside Police Department.

Leticia was kidnapped Dec. 16, 1989 -- two days after her seventh birthday.

Her abduction sparked a grass-roots effort to find her that mushroomed into a nationwide search, one that spanned the continent, including Colorado and Florida.

For all of last year, Leticia's kidnapping was listed as the nation's No. 1 child abduction case by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Oceanside Police Detective Chris McDonough, who penned a song for the girl that was later made into a video, turned the search for Leticia into a crusade for San Diegans.

Last summer, McDonough founded San Diegans for the Return of Leticia Hernandez, a group that sought public involvement in the search. The group recruited several well-known corporate and sports figures, including former San Diego Padre Rollie Fingers, to raise money for a reward fund.

Public concern about the case was extraordinary from the very beginning, in part because the abduction happened over the holidays.

In the first three months of the investigation, there were repeated reports of sightings of the girl, causing authorities to track the movement of Leticia and her abductors, described as a blond-haired couple driving a maroon Buick, across the Southwest into the Florida panhandle.

On at least two occasions, Leticia and her abductors were thought to within the grasp of authorities, but got away.

During the most recent of the sightings, on March 26 in Greensboro, Fla., a customer at a gas station standing near a blond-haired man driving a maroon Buick become visibly anxious as an as-yet unidentified law-enforcement officer -- investigators think it was a county deputy or local marshal -- pulled up behind him, according to a witness.

The witness, who on his way to the restroom, also reported seeing a girl resembling Leticia in the company of a blond-haired woman. But, he told authorities, he didn't think anything about the man's reaction to the officer until later, when he saw a poster of the missing child.

Five days later, in Marianna, Fla., a woman at a fruit stand reported seeing Leticia in the company of a female, but police didn't get to the area until after the suspects were long gone.

In all, police have received more than 2,600 leads, many of which were generated by exposure of the case on national television programs such as "Unsolved Mysteries" and "America's Most Wanted."

Despite the heavy publicity, investigators were unable to crack the case. An Oceanside newspaper even resorted to hiring a New York psychic to help find the missing girl.

People such as 55-year-old Nancy Hague of Live Oak, Fla., got involved in trying to find Leticia after her nephew in San Diego told her the girl had been seen in Florida. She began handing out fliers with Leticia's picture.

In a recent interview, Sheila Hancock, the Oceanside detective assigned to the investigation from the beginning, described her relationship with the case as "all-consuming."

"I was real touched by the family," said Hancock, who has been with the department for 11 years. "I guess it really personally got to me right away."

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Leticia seen at store in Mobile, Ala.
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San Diego Union, The (CA)-January 24, 1990
Author: By a Staff Writer

Kidnapped 7-year-old Leticia Hernandez was spotted in a Mobile, Ala., grocery store Friday, more than a month after disappearing from her home here, police said yesterday.

The latest confirmed sighting appears consistent with other reports placing the girl and two suspects moving east along Interstates 8 and 10.

Leticia was kidnapped as she was playing in front of her Bush Street apartment on Dec. 16, and was seen later that night at a Buckman Springs rest stop.

Witnesses subsequently reported seeing her in the company of a blond couple, driving an old maroon Buick sedan, in Arizona, in El Paso and Sonora, Texas, at a rest stop west of Houston, and then in Mobile, on the southern coast of Alabama.

A woman contacted the FBI on Friday after apparently seeing the woman suspect holding Leticia in a Mobile grocery store, near the intersection of Interstates 10 and 65, at about 4 p.m., said Oceanside police Sgt. Bill Krunglevich.

Leticia appeared in good health, and was wearing a plaid skirt, Krunglevich said.

The witness told investigators that the woman appeared nervous, and a man fitting the second suspect's description was outside the store, looking in at the woman and child. The witness said she did not see the maroon Buick sedan.

FBI and police detectives are checking an additional report that Leticia and the woman suspect were seen at a truck stop several hours before the Mobile sighting. A witness reported that they were in Grand Bay, Ala., less than 30 miles west of Mobile along Interstate 10, between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

That witness has not yet been fully interviewed by the FBI, so the sighting is listed as unconfirmed, Krunglevich said.

Krunglevich said the latest witness' report was probably triggered by extensive media coverage of the kidnapping in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia since the first of the month.

A segment on Leticia's kidnapping is to be aired tonight on NBC's "Unsolved Mysteries" program. Krunglevich said an NBC affiliate in Mobile also was to run a news story on the case last night.

And in Oceanside, one officer has even written a song about her.

The vision of a frightened, vulnerable child traveling with two strangers moved Chris McDonough, an eight-year police veteran, to write a song in hopes Leticia would hear it on a radio station, wherever she was.

"Our goal when we put it together was for Leticia to hear it, so she will know we're still there, we're coming, and to give her the hope we all have, and that her mother has," said McDonough, who has written other songs and occasionally plays guitar at weddings and restaurant lounges.

"Maybe she will hear it and say, 'That's me,' and some store clerk will say, 'I'm sorry, what, honey?' and it will be all over. That's what we want."

He penned most of the lyrics to "Leticia" over the course of a week, inspired by her photo, and, he said, by God. Two friends helped compose and record the music.

"Oh, Leticia," runs the plaintive ballad chorus, "we love you and we know you love us, too. And we're praying and hoping that everything's all right with you."

Police are still requesting public assistance in tracing the girl and the suspects, and have a hot-line number to report tips, at (619) 966-4911.

I think its strange that this couple would kidnap her, and then not make alot of fuss to try and hide her better with all the media attention on the case, travel eastward all the way accross the US towards florida from california, only to have her body turn up just a little ways outside of Sand Diego.

Did UM originally air this story while Leticia was still missing, or was it after her remains her found? I'm also wondering what you remember about the segment. Anything at all (no matter how trivial).

Did UM originally air this story while Leticia was still missing, or was it after her remains her found? I'm also wondering what you remember about the segment. Anything at all (no matter how trivial).

The episode aired on 1/24/90, before her body was discovered. I'm not sure if there was an update.

This case always struck a cord with me. I lived in the area Leticia was abducted from (she was around the same age as me), and would always see updates from Crime Stoppers. I still remember the composite sketch of the man and woman that were seen with her.

The thing that always gets me, is one CrimeStoppers update that had shown a woman walking in a housing development. inside a house she found Leticia underneath the sink, shaking in fear and sobbing. What happened next was unbelievable. The woman leaves for help, but leaves Leticia where she is! Outside of the house she confronts the male abductor who asks if Leticia is in the house...she says yes! Shortly after, her remains were found. To this day, I hope they find the killer(s).

This case always struck a cord with me. I lived in the area Leticia was abducted from (she was around the same age as me), and would always see updates from Crime Stoppers. I still remember the composite sketch of the man and woman that were seen with her.

The thing that always gets me, is one CrimeStoppers update that had shown a woman walking in a housing development. inside a house she found Leticia underneath the sink, shaking in fear and sobbing. What happened next was unbelievable. The woman leaves for help, but leaves Leticia where she is! Outside of the house she confronts the male abductor who asks if Leticia is in the house...she says yes! Shortly after, her remains were found. To this day, I hope they find the killer(s).

I have a question regarding the Crime Stoppers series you mentioned: Was this a local program or a nationally syndicated TV show?

The reason I ask is because there was a half-hour TV show called Crime Stoppers 800. That program aired in first-run syndication from 1989 to 1991.

I have a question regarding the Crime Stoppers series you mentioned: Was this a local program or a nationally syndicated TV show?

The reason I ask is because there was a half-hour TV show called Crime Stoppers 800. That program aired in first-run syndication from 1989 to 1991.

it was local i believe; just cases from the local area, although every city may have had this to fit their local crime scenes. it was just a 2-3 minute bulletin/commercial that played between TV shows in the late 80's/early 90's. I'm guessing the 2-3 minute segments were provided as short reminders of certain crimes and may have just been a branch off of the television show you are speaking of.

The "episode" about Leticia Hernandez aired on Jan. 24, 1990. All the stories that night were repeats except for one new story: Mark and Judy Groezinger.
The repeated stories were the Roswell UFO coverup and Tara Calico and Micahel Henley. There were quick "rapid fire" profiles of missing children after the Calico/Henley segment, and this is where Leticia's story was profiled in brief. RS said in voiceover that Leticia was abducted from her front yard in Oceanside, California. There were numerous sightings of her with a man and a woman in their late twenties or early thirties and composites were shown on these individuals as well as a photo of a model of the car they were reportedly driving. The most recent sighting, according to the broadcast, was in Texas. Most of the sightings of Leticia and the couple were at truck stops or rest stops, so maybe truckers saw the "missing" flyers and called in sightings. I tend to think most of these sightings were red herrings/ringers since Leticia's body was eventually recovered not far from where she disappeared in the first place.

Other missing children were profiled. I jotted down their names. Haven't had the chance to Google them as of yet...

Jessica Suzanne Gutierrez

David Michael Borer

Malakia Zali Logan

Since this episode was pretty much a repeat and Lifetime never showed the Tara Calico story anyway, I would guess that explains why these brief profiles never materialized.

Yeah, thanks. I wonder if David Michael Borer could have fallen through the ice somewhere and his body hasn't been found...then again, he did have an apparent affinity for hitchhiking. I couldn't believe that.

Yeah, thanks. I wonder if David Michael Borer could have fallen through the ice somewhere and his body hasn't been found...then again, he did have an apparent affinity for hitchhiking. I couldn't believe that.

Yea I wonder if the hole he fell in (possibly) could have frozen over in 2+ hours. I think the boy has issues if he was only in 1st grade and had already been hitchhiking!!! Wonder what the chances are he ran away and met with foul play.

Just going by airdates, I'm pretty sure I have this story in my collection, but I have not had a chance to watch it yet. I'll post a write up when I do.

Do you have a copy of the missing Children segment for unsolved mysteries? I played one of the children in the reinactments and was too young to understand what was going on. I never realized how these abduction cases in the 80's and 90's had such an impact on the regulations and laws that we enforce today. Any assistance is truly appreciated.

Unsolved Mysteries explores unsolved cases in which you, the viewer, can help solve a case. The show includes cases
from a variety of categories: Murder, Missing Persons, Wanted Fugitives, UFOs, Ghosts, Fraud, Legends, Science/Medicine,
among others. The new Unsolved Mysteries programs will consist of re-creations of the events, along with interviews
with the subjects, participants and authorities, documentary footage and news footage. Entirely new graphics,
special effects, music and title sequences were created for the Spike broadcasts, along with new narration and host
stand-ups by Dennis Farina. They will broadcast 175 episodes.

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